Turihaua link to city idea

A route from Turihaua to Matokitoki Valley Road and on to heavy traffic bypasses over Lytton Road, Stanley Road and the Turanganui River could keep logging trucks out of the city, says architectural designer Chris Shaw.

Mr Shaw has made a submission to Gisborne district councillors and asked for his roading option to be include in the council’s spatial plan.

He said there were other options and his was ‘‘purely a conversation starter’’.

The “key question’’ was to get logs from east to west without going through the city.

He did not support a rail option and a route from Tolaga Bay through Waimata Valley Road added considerable distance

His option was to develop the 8.2 kilometre paper road inland from Turihaua through Goodwin Road, and on to Matokitoki Valley Road.

That route would bypass the city but not add a considerable distance.

A designated route would turn left at the airport on to the rail reserve and overpasses at Lytton Road and Stanley Road would provide ‘‘direct and unimpeded access to the port’’.

The last overpass would be high enough to allow port access to watercraft.

The option could allow for the future use of silent electronic vehicles — keeping with the plans of Eastland Community Trust for electric vehicles — and ultimately lead to autonomous vehicles.

Mr Shaw said his option would “first and foremost future-proof and ensure the sustainability of the port”.

The option would be expensive.

“But where’s there a will, there’s a way’’.

If there was political will for a heavy vehicle bypass, ”I think that would be a good thing’’.

He had not discussed his option with Eastland Port.

It was for council, as “the leaders ‘‘ in the community, to begin discussions.

There were other players, with the port being “the absolute key’’. Questioned by Shannon Dowsing, Mr Shaw said he did not believe a rail option would work because of a train’s length and turning circle.

The beauty of electric trucks was that they could operate all hours and were highly manoeuvrable with an “ability to stop, stagger, for just-in-time delivery’’.

Mr Dowsing asked if there was a benefit in a single train versus multiple truck movements.

Mr Shaw said he respectfully disagreed.

‘‘The key to just-in-time delivery is small, nimble vehicles that can easily speed up, slow down or be diverted.

Replying to Andy Cranston, Mr Shaw accepted coastal shipping could be another option.

But his option ‘‘looked beyond logs’’.

His option not only applied to the logging industry, but could remove heavy roading and stock trucks from the city.

A route from Turihaua to Matokitoki Valley Road and on to heavy traffic bypasses over Lytton Road, Stanley Road and the Turanganui River could keep logging trucks out of the city, says architectural designer Chris Shaw.

Mr Shaw has made a submission to Gisborne district councillors and asked for his roading option to be include in the council’s spatial plan.

He said there were other options and his was ‘‘purely a conversation starter’’.

The “key question’’ was to get logs from east to west without going through the city.

He did not support a rail option and a route from Tolaga Bay through Waimata Valley Road added considerable distance

His option was to develop the 8.2 kilometre paper road inland from Turihaua through Goodwin Road, and on to Matokitoki Valley Road.

That route would bypass the city but not add a considerable distance.

A designated route would turn left at the airport on to the rail reserve and overpasses at Lytton Road and Stanley Road would provide ‘‘direct and unimpeded access to the port’’.

The last overpass would be high enough to allow port access to watercraft.

The option could allow for the future use of silent electronic vehicles — keeping with the plans of Eastland Community Trust for electric vehicles — and ultimately lead to autonomous vehicles.

Mr Shaw said his option would “first and foremost future-proof and ensure the sustainability of the port”.

The option would be expensive.

“But where’s there a will, there’s a way’’.

If there was political will for a heavy vehicle bypass, ”I think that would be a good thing’’.

He had not discussed his option with Eastland Port.

It was for council, as “the leaders ‘‘ in the community, to begin discussions.

There were other players, with the port being “the absolute key’’. Questioned by Shannon Dowsing, Mr Shaw said he did not believe a rail option would work because of a train’s length and turning circle.

The beauty of electric trucks was that they could operate all hours and were highly manoeuvrable with an “ability to stop, stagger, for just-in-time delivery’’.

Mr Dowsing asked if there was a benefit in a single train versus multiple truck movements.

Mr Shaw said he respectfully disagreed.

‘‘The key to just-in-time delivery is small, nimble vehicles that can easily speed up, slow down or be diverted.

Replying to Andy Cranston, Mr Shaw accepted coastal shipping could be another option.

But his option ‘‘looked beyond logs’’.

His option not only applied to the logging industry, but could remove heavy roading and stock trucks from the city.

Can you imagine the noise of hundreds of trucks per day driving along a raised embankment and overbridges in residential neighbourhoods? And the pollution? It'll never get resource consent, and rightly so.

I'm not sure what Mr Shaw thinks a train actually is, but I can assure him they don't have turning circles. They just change direction and go back out the same way they came in. Perhaps he is unaware that the railway already goes right into the log yard at the port, and has been there since 1995 when the port had the siding built to use rail to bring logs in from Wairoa and Hawke's Bay (a practice later dropped by Eastland when they adopted their protectionist-based anti-rail stance).

If these various hundred-million dollar roading proposals keep cropping up, the Government will eventually throw their hands in the air, reopen the railway south, and let Napier Port with its much lower port fees take the lot.